University Press Releases

GSBI Online Accepting Applications for New Cohort

Monday, Apr. 22, 2013

Program Helps Early-Stage Social Enterprises Build Scalable Business Models

SANTA CLARA, Calif., April 22, 2013 —Applications are now being accepted for GSBI Online, the online version of Santa Clara University’s highly regarded, 11-year-old training program for worldwide social-entrepreneur ventures, the Global Social Benefit Incubator or GSBI™ .

Up to 20 ventures will be selected and given a scholarship for the six-month program. Those selected will be notified in early September.

GSBI Online helps early-stage social enterprises that have the potential to create significant social impact through financially sustainable operations. The structured curriculum uses a methodology honed at GSBI over the past decade, while also incorporating the best practices of today’s on-demand, online learning.

Each entrepreneur accepted into GSBI Online will be guided by two mentors: an experienced Silicon Valley corporate-level executive as well as a local in-country executive, each of whom provides hands-on assistance and mentoring throughout the program.

The rigorous curriculum will last from October 2013 through March 2014. Successful participants will graduate from the GSBI Online program armed with a fundable plan for scaling their organization, which includes a business-plan summary presentation, an “elevator pitch,” a one-year operating plan, and an innovation profile.

“Having mentors from their home countries as well as Silicon Valley helps GSBI Online entrepreneurs better navigate their local cultures and economies, while taking advantage of Silicon Valley’s unique startup acumen, global perspective, and culture of innovation,” said Cassandra Thomassin, senior program manager for the GSBI program.

“We are indebted to Applied Materials for their support of this cohort and enabling us to take this next step in bringing our world-class GSBI program to more social enterprises in frontier markets,” continued Thomassin.

“The GSBI Online program was a wonderful experience. We learned a lot and maintained a fast tempo every day,” said Santosh Ostwal, CEO and founding director of Ossian Agro Automation Pvt. in Pune, India, a recent graduate of GSBI Online’s second cohort. “The GSBI team worked with me throughout the process. It was a lot of hard work, excitement, and fun, as well as tension, fear, and worry—but now I know I will accomplish the dreams GSBI expects from us.”

For more details about the program, visit the Center for Science, Technology, and Society’s website at www.scu.edu/socialbenefit/. For questions regarding the program please send an email to gsbi@scu.edu.

About the GSBI
The GSBI is the signature program of the Center for Science, Technology, and Society at Santa Clara University. The mission of the Center is to accelerate global, innovation-based entrepreneurship in service to humanity. The GSBI empowers socially-minded entrepreneurs to build sustainable, scalable organizations and solve problems for people living in poverty around the world. For over a decade, the GSBI has helped mission-driven enterprises build, sustain, and increase the reach and impact of their businesses. The GSBI is currently funded in part by a grant from the Skoll Foundation, corporate gifts from Applied Materials, and generous support from individual donors.

About Santa Clara University
Santa Clara University, a comprehensive Jesuit, Catholic university located 40 miles south of San Francisco in California’s Silicon Valley, offers its more than 8,800 students rigorous undergraduate curricula in arts and sciences, business, theology, and engineering, plus master’s and law degrees and engineering Ph.Ds. Distinguished nationally by one of the highest graduation rates among all U.S. master’s universities, California’s oldest operating higher-education institution demonstrates faith-inspired values of ethics and social justice. For more information, see www.scu.edu.